Back to Blood: A Novel

As a police launch speeds across Miami's Biscayne Bay - with officer Nestor Camacho on board - Tom Wolfe is off and running. Here is a big, panoramic story of the new America, as told by our master chronicler of the way we live now. Based on the same sort of detailed, on-scene, high-energy reporting that powered Tom Wolfe's previous best-selling novels, Back to Blood is another brilliant, spot-on, scrupulous, and often hilarious reckoning with our times.

The Handmaid's Tale

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife. She may go out once a day to markets whose signs are now pictures because women are not allowed to read. She must pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, for in a time of declining birthrates her value lies in her fertility, and failure means exile to the dangerously polluted Colonies. Offred can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name....

The novel itself is a classic; reading the print version is a moving and terrifying experience.

But Claire Danes's narration elevates this classic to new heights. She embodies Offred so fully and completely that she has just become my favorite audiobook reader. She narrates with such conviction and yet with such grace and candor that I'm absolutely blown away by her performance. She never becomes maudlin or inappropriately emotional.

This was the perfect marriage of novel and casting. Buy it! You will not be disappointed.

More Information Than You Require

Welcome to the paperless (or "audiobook") edition of More Information Than You Require, a further compendium of COMPLETE WORLD KNOWLEDGE assembled and illumined by John Hodgman, a Famous Minor Television Personality. It contains all of the half-truths, fake trivia, amazing made-up facts, and molemanic lore as the paper edition, narrated here by Resident Expert John Hodgman, occasionally interrupted by this veritable extravaganza of illustrious and sometimes presumptuous guests.

I thought about shutting it off within the first five minutes, but I decided to get through the interminable prologue before giving up on it. It does get marginally better, but I wouldn't recommend it.

This is one of the most unfunny humor books I have ever read or downloaded. At times, I was vaguely amused, but my predominant emotion was annoyance. His voice is grating, and his repetition of "jokes" (his musical co-host is a feral mountain man) and phrases (I gave up after hearing "It Happened Today...in the Past" for the 200th time) is equally as grating. I truly don't understand why people found this so funny.

I suppose if you enjoyed his previous book, which after listening to this one I won't bother to try, you would like this. For my part, I would recommend Bossypants for a clever, funny humor book read by the author.

Sh-t My Dad Says

After being dumped by his longtime girlfriend, 28-year-old Justin Halpern found himself living at home with his 73-year-old dad. Sam Halpern, who is “like Socrates, but angrier, and with worse hair,” has never minced words, and when Justin moved back home, he began to record all the ridiculous things his dad said to him.

Hilarious stories, clever one-liners, and excellent narration make this my absolute favorite audiobook ever. Definitely worth a listen. I didn't delete it from my mp3 player because I plan to listen to it again soon.

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